Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

17 reviews

kibiiiariii's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Drug use, Slavery, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abandonment, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Torture, Trafficking, Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Child death, Toxic friendship, War, Xenophobia, Animal death, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Violence, Child abuse, Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Cursing, and Death

cowardlyteaman's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This is my second R. F. Kuang book, and she never seems to disappoint.

There's so much to say here that I'm sure other readers in these reviews can express much better than me.
Currently in history class, we're learning about the history of Emperial Japan (where much of it is also taught from the perspective of the Chinese), and the parallels are prominent. Sometimes it becomes hard to distinguish between what is real and what is fiction, because just like the Mugenese, the Japanese soldiers were terrible—terrible—terrible.

There's so much of this book to praise, and I did love Rin for a while. However, as she continued to go against her master's advice, I continued to dislike her. I see where her need is coming from, but it was very frustrating and frankly quite uninspiring to read about these very predictable consequences to her horribly naïve decisions.
This, however, is the ONLY complaint I had about the book, and I still very much enjoyed the book. I am looking forward to the coming books!

I deeply recommend this book, but be aware of the warnings. Many of the warnings are descriptions and mentions made from character's rather than the direct actions, but they can still be disturbing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Misogyny, Rape, Blood, Animal death, Body horror, Miscarriage, Torture, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Child abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual violence, Violence, and War

Moderate: Racism, Suicide, Self harm, Animal cruelty, and Classism

Minor: Excrement, Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, and Vomit

dragongurrl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I swear Kuang is easily one of my favorite authors….this was brutal and amazing. Plot twists I actually didn’t see coming. Violent depictions that were so well written you couldn’t look away while you died inside reading them. Any book this woman writes I will read. I’m sold. Immediately ready for book 2

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Rape, Grief, Drug use, Addiction, Body horror, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, Genocide, Drug abuse, Violence, Child death, Death, Self harm, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Suicide

Moderate: Child abuse, Classism, Mental illness, and Colonisation

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Infertility, Bullying, and Animal death

eri002's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual violence, War, Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Blood, Grief, Violence, Genocide, Murder, Rape, and Torture

Moderate: Excrement, Classism, Animal death, Alcohol, Bullying, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, and Xenophobia

tabbed_reads2much's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

If 'The Mysterious Benedict Society' went to war.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Sexual violence, Torture, Classism, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Drug use, Violence, War, Pregnancy, and Rape

Moderate: Addiction, Abandonment, Death, Excrement, Blood, Sexism, Slavery, Child abuse, Child death, Xenophobia, Body horror, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Genocide, Medical trauma, and Racial slurs

Minor: Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Confinement, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

abijmieds's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, Rape, Racism, Blood, Body horror, Xenophobia, Violence, Racial slurs, Murder, Incest, Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, Domestic abuse, Deportation, Death, Colonisation, Animal death, War, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Police brutality, Misogyny, Mental illness, Genocide, Pedophilia, Miscarriage, Mass/school shootings, Drug use, Drug abuse, Classism, Chronic illness, Child death, Torture, Sexual assault, and Adult/minor relationship

nottreading's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Eu terminei de ler Battle Royale esse ano, então quando eu peguei a Guerra da Papoula e me disseram que era um livro muito pesado, eu achei que era pelas descrições do combate e das mortes de uma guerra. Violência explícita como a do Koushun. Devo alertá-los que esse livro só tem esse tipo de violência em 2 capítulos, mas isso não torna ele nem um pouco menos pesado, acho inclusive mais violento do que Battle Royale. Talvez porque BR tenha uma vibe distópica e GdP é baseado em uma guerra real, ou porque em BR, todas as mortes são tentando sobreviver, mas em GdP, a gente vê morte movida pelo ódio, pela indiferença, por política. É muito mais real, mostra tudo que há de ruim na humanidade. Eu me questiono, depois de acabar essa leitura, como, em aulas de história, a gente venera generais, monarcas e outras figuras que faziam essas coisas, estuprar, matar, humilhar e torturar povos inteiros seja porque achando que eram mais fortes, pensavam que estavam no direito de matar, ou seja por ambição e ganância para conquistar outros territórios, preguiça de negociar e conciliar necessidades diferentes. 
 Enfim, desculpa o desabafo.
 A meia estrela que eu tirei foi porque me confundi um pouco com a parte política por boa parte do livro, acho que se eu estudar as Guerras do Ópio, vou entender melhor. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Racism, Torture, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, War, Genocide, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Slavery, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Drug use, Rape, Self harm, Addiction, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Misogyny, and Colonisation

praaliine's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

this book…i mean wow. i have so many thoughts but i’ll cut it short, it was everything they said it would be but at the same time it wasn’t. the book was so incredibly written and the plot and characters were so intricately developed, the story unfolded in a way i didn’t expect. i honestly don’t think i’ve ever had such an immersive reading experience before. yes it was as dark and violent and gory as they said, i was warned but i didn’t listen (i beg you, heed the tws, especially for the infamous chapter 21). now this is what it wasn’t: they love to rave about how rin is such a badass etc. but this is not what this book is about, it’s nothing short of a TRAGEDY! the heaviness of this makes my head swirl with a million thoughts.
so much for keeping of short lol.

i actually mourn for rin the most, i feel like she’s turned into something from a nightmare, sigh

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Colonisation, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Xenophobia, Addiction, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Confinement, Death of parent, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Rape, Sexual assault, and War

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

sa_er's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The writing is impeccable and the  story is fascinating but I cannot get over the amount of detailed build war crimes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Death, Drug abuse, Child death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Body horror, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, War, and Self harm

Moderate: Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Trafficking

sacredgayometry's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Beautifully written and culturally expansive- the world building and magic system are fascinating. There are some very dark and upsetting moments that feel difficult to read, but the overall result is a great read with incredibly complex characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Murder, Rape, Infertility, Gore, Violence, War, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Genocide, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Pregnancy, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Abortion, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Adult/minor relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical trauma, Ableism, Animal death, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, and Grief

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexism, Bullying, and Forced institutionalization

If you have trauma related especially to heroin or opioids, they are often mentioned and abused and this may not be the book for you. There is also heavy allegory to the conflicts in China and Japan surrounding opium and colonization and the wars that have occurred especially during feudal periods. I found it reminiscent of the Vietnam war and World War II. War crimes are a heavy theme. Very well written but can be a very difficult read.